IRGC Chief Issues Threats after Trump Talks Tough on Maritime Harassment

Hossein Salami, head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), vowed to “destroy” US naval vessels seen as threatening the country’s security. “I have ordered our naval forces to destroy any American terrorist force in the Persian Gulf that threatens the security of Iran’s military or non-military ships,” Salami told state television on Thursday, a day after US President Donald Trump tweeted that he would order the US Navy to “shoot down and destroy” any Iranian gunboats that harass US ships at sea. The American leader was referring to an incident a week earlier in which the US military accused the IRGC of “dangerous and provocative actions” after 11 of its speedboats cut across the bows of several US vessels conducting exercises in the Persian Gulf’s “international waters.” Later on Wednesday, in a White House briefing, President Trump clarified that he was not changing the military’s standing rules of engagement. Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist told reporters at the Pentagon: “The president issued an important warning to the Iranians. What he was emphasizing is all of our ships retain the right of self-defense.”